Police and volunteers fanned out across southern California before first light yesterday in a desperate search for a "cult-like" group of 13 people, including children as young as three, that had driven off into the mountains after leaving messages saying they were going to heaven to meet Jesus.

The hills surrounding the Autodromo Algarve, just north west of Portamio on the Portuguese coast, reverberated to the sound of thunder overnight, which was replaced this morning by the sound of 23 GT1 cars on track for the weekends first free-practice session. The stunning facility, 2.9 mile, 18 turn, undulating track, was officially classed as wet for the days first run.

Nissan has opened its order books for its Golf-sized Leaf electric vehicle (EV) in Ireland and Portugal. Customers in the UK can place their orders from the beginning of September. The first deliveries will take place in January (Portugal), February (Ireland) and March (UK).

The Corvette of Xavier Maassen and Jos Menten was the surprise winner of yesterday's FIA GT1 World Championship qualifying race at Spa, in a contest that succeeded in turning all previous form on its head.

If you want a reliable used car, buy a Japanese one, according to new research.Japan's manufacturers took seven of the top 10 places in a reliability survey based, while the 10 least reliable cars were all European.